Judge Faces Criticism over Tax Issues as Election Nears

JONESBORO, Ark. — A circuit judge seeking reelection is facing criticism for tax issues from opponents seeking to replace him on the bench.

Circuit Judge Charles M. “Skip” Mooney Jr. owes unpaid state tax liens totaling about $30,000, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Mooney told the newspaper it was during a period of hardship for his family and that they represent a lot of interest. He also said a payment of around $5,200 was made since the newspaper pulled the records.

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However, one of his opponents for circuit judge in the upcoming race is accusing Mooney of owing more. Mooney said he and his family are the targets of a smear campaign.

Brian Miles, one of two candidates seeking to replace Mooney — along with Luther Sutter — says that Mooney owes over $40,000 in a new campaign mailer being sent to voters this week. That number, Miles said, was primarily based on $36,000 in federal liens.

Miles said the exact number is difficult to determine because Mooney wrote “to be determined” on the amounts of his liens on the 2024 and 2025 statements of financial interest, which Miles said hides the true amount he owes.

“His failure to comply with the statement of financial interest rules makes it hard to figure out,” Miles told NEA Report.

Miles also made note of the judge being late in paying his property taxes eight out of the last ten years, which we verified through a search of property tax records.

Judge Mooney responded to the criticism in a statement to NEA Report:

Stan:
Thank you for contacting me and giving me the opportunity to respond to reports you have received about my family’s economic struggles during a certain time in my life.

As you may recall, opioid addiction blindsided my family years ago after my son received medical treatment with highly addictive medications after suffering from a concussion while playing football at JHS. A situation that led me and my family down a long dark isolating journey, like so many other families have been through. At the time, I did not understand anything about the illness of drug addiction and there were very few resources available to help middle-class families like mine. All I knew was that it was my responsibility as a father to do something because my son was going to die.

For about a year everything seemed hopeless and I could barely function. There were so many days that I just sat in my office crying and praying to God for help. Then one day that help came by way of a front-page news story in the paper. A story concerning kids in Craighead County that had overdosed on heroin. That is when I realized that my family wasn’t alone and I knew that I had to get my life back together by educating myself so I could do whatever I could to save my son and so many kids like him, no matter what the cost was to me and the rest of my family.

That decision led to a new journey in my life called Out of the Dark and for the next seven (7) years or so most of my time was focused on educating kids, their families and community leaders about this monster that was stealing so many of our children away, while nobody really wanted to talk about it. However, my passion for change was unstoppable. I have attached a copy of my old bio that outlines some of the obligations I took on as a result of this passion.

During my years with Out of the Dark, I never asked anybody for any compensation because I did not do this for money. I knew that at some point I would have to go back to working full-time to take care of personal financial issues that had been building up over the years. However, at the time I was not concerned because Dad and I had built a successful law practice.

What I did not know then was that when I resigned from Out of the Dark in 2015, that I would face serious medical conditions resulting in thousands of dollars in medical expenses for my family. Also, I did not know that my Dad would develop liver cancer, resulting in his demise in 2017. Obviously, this had a major impact on our law practice and my ability to produce income.

I want it to be clear, we did pay income taxes every year and this represents the balances for each year that I was not able to pay it all, including a substantial amount of interest. Additionally, I have made substantial payments towards resolving these issues since then and I do not agree with balances. However, I am aware of this situation and with the assistance of my accountant we have been trying to reach a final resolve.

In any event, I wanted to give you an explanation because I have nothing to hide and I am proud of the decision I made years ago. Even though this decision was economically detrimental to my family, I know that my efforts were the catalyst for some communities and our state to come together to educate thousands of children and their families to help them address drug addiction issues in their lives. Also, I know that my family is still able to have our son in our lives rather than having to visit a grave site.

Quite frankly, my opponents have stated to my friends that they were going to win this election by trying to smear my family with this issue right before the election, so this is no surprise to me. As a Judge I have reported this situation publicly every year as required by law and the tax liens are a matter of public record. Also, my opponents know that owing some back income taxes is not a crime and the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled years ago that this does not disqualify anybody from the position of Circuit Judge.

I am asking for your vote so I can continue to make positive changes in our judiciary to reduce the recycling of this drug epidemic in our courts by alternate means such as my Adult Drug Court programs and through my judicial rulings in so many other cases where children are being abandoned by their mothers due to neglect because they have been addicted to drugs for so many years.

Please be advised that since your inquiry concerns my campaign, I am sending this by way of my personal email account.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Respectfully,

SMjr.

In a statement, Miles said he was the best candidate, and without a scandal:

The voters of Northeast Arkansas shouldn’t be saddled with a tax-delinquent judge who is also behind on his cases. Period.

I’m focused on my qualifications for circuit judge and why I’m the best suited candidate to address our backlog of cases without scandal.

Sutter also issued a pointed statement:

Skip skipped paying his taxes. Skip skip Mooney.